What You Need to Know Before Traveling to Mexico
This list of Mexico travel tips is mostly for get-go-fourth dimension visitors traveling to United mexican states, merely it tin can help anyone accomplish a safe and worry-costless journey.
Mexico is huge. Even though my itinerary immune me to explore but a tiny percentage of information technology, I had a blast and feel I had a balanced mix of cities, culture, beaches, and history.
I did quite an extensive research to program my trip but it was during the trip itself that I learned a lot.
This list compiles exactly that. All the things I wish I had known before visiting Mexico.
🇲🇽 Things to know before traveling to Mexico
- Don't stress out considering of safety concerns.
- Go cenote hopping.
- Pay in pesos, not dollars.
- Explore across the touristy resorts.
- Don't underestimate the size of the state.
- Information technology'southward not e'er warm and sunny.
- Indulge on the unique Mexican food.
- Go out your drone at home.
- Know the Mexican bathrooms.
- Plan for the best beach weather.
- Go around past ADO bus.
- Requite a chance to United mexican states Metropolis.
- Go for the street nutrient.
- Be careful when renting a car.
- Explore the ancient ruins.
- Try to avoid tours.
- Learn basic Spanish.
- Connect with locals.
- Avoid the tap water.
- Stay continued with a Telcel SIM menu.
oneDon't stress out because of safety concerns
United mexican states has an awful reputation on media, from drug cartel violence to missing women in the metro. Not to say these things don't exist.
However, near of these things happen in areas that yous're unlikely to visit. This is truthful fifty-fifty within the cities. In United mexican states City, the central areas are safe and nigh of the crime is concentrated in the suburbs. If you follow these safety tips in CDMX, you'll exist fine.
Mexico is in general very safe, with very welcoming people.
Call back roughly 40 MILLIONS of people visit United mexican states every year and violence against tourists is rare. The main crime travelers may encounter is piffling theft. Be aware of your property at all times, peculiarly in crowded places.
2Go cenote hopping
I had never heard of cenotes before coming to Mexico and I learned that is so piece of cake to go obsessed with them. Cenotes are cavern-like sinkholes or natural swimming holes that tin can exist plant all beyond the Yucatán peninsula.
Some await similar underground caves. Others are more like an underground pond puddle. Others are just like a giant open up-air pit. They're very diverse so try to visit at to the lowest degree two or three of them.
The Mayas believed these were sacred portals to the underworld; while this may not be necessarily true, they feel indeed magical.
ℹ Best cenotes in Mexico
There are over 6,000 different cenotes in Yucatán, hither are some of the about cute.
- Cenote Dos Ojos in Tulum
- Cenote Samulá in Valladolid
- Cenote Zaci in Valladolid
- Cenote Ik-Kil in Chichen Itza
- Cenote Azuk in Tulum
- Cenote Suytun in Valladolid
- Cenote Xkeken in Valladolid
- Gran Cenote in Tulum
iiiPay in pesos, not dollars
In some places, especially the touristy hotspots similar Playa Del Carmen, it's technically possible to pay in U.S. Dollars (USD).
All the same, you'll get a much ameliorate deal paying in pesos considering places can choose the substitution charge per unit. When you get to Mexico, take money out of an ATM (never use exchange bureaus!) and brand sure y'all always take pesos with yous throughout your trip.
If possible, use Revolut to pay even less fees.
4Explore beyond the touristy resorts
This is ane of the key travel tips in United mexican states, guys.
There's absolutely zippo wrong with planning some days at the beach in Riviera Maya – they are well-deserved after touring the land! – just settling for the typical resort all-inclusive vacation in Mexico is almost offensive to the balance of the country.
Personally, the thought of booking a trip to stay at a megaresort in Cancún with some seldom guided tours to explore where locals live is my idea of Mexican vacation hell. All yous'll be seeing is other tourists.
United mexican states is a HUGE country with plenty of other destinations you can explore. I skipped Cancún and Playa del Carmen all together for my itinerary and added more authentic colonial towns like Valladolid or Mérida to understand better its amazing sub-cultures.
5Don't underestimate the size of the country
In example you haven't noticed, United mexican states is an absolute brute of the country. Spreading out for an area of well-nigh ii million km² (!) is has more 130 million people. More than than 20 meg of them in Mexico City's metropolitan area, which is also the largest city in the Western Hemisphere.
Getting from indicate A to bespeak B always takes longer than you lot expect. Plan appropriately and don't hop city to city in the least corporeality of time possible. A key Mexico travel tip (that is universal): slow travel is your friend.
6It's non ever warm and sunny
Because the country is so big, weather changes considerably from region to region.
In general, the best time to visit Mexico is between December and April. Simply while may experience some chilly nights in United mexican states City every bit it corresponds to the summit winter season in the Northern Hemisphere. Bring your jacket!
That said, in December and January while is perfect beach conditions in Riviera Maya, in places similar Tulum or Playa del Carmen. The hurricane season has passed and despite existence the "coolest months", temperatures can still attain averages of 28 degrees Celsius in some places.
Top hotels in Tulum
This list has all the all-time hotels in Tulum with bikes bachelor to go around.
7Indulge on the unique Mexican food
Forget any diets when coming to Mexico because let's face it, Mexican nutrient is FREAKING Succulent. Non always the healthiest, not always respecting the 5-a-day rule, simply y'all've got time to recover later your trip.
And there'due south much more than but tacos, nachos, and guacamole (which is actually not that common!). Each region in Mexico boasts a different sub-culture and that is represented through nutrient also. In Yucatán for instance, you'll find a whole new version of Mexican food with origin in the Mayas and that includes chaya, sopa de lima and the popular conchinita pibil.
I propose indulging equally much as you tin in the local nutrient and if possible, have a cooking class to properly experience this unique cuisine.
Dishes you need to try in Mexico 🌮
- 🌮 Cochinita pibil: a Yucatan dish consisting of marinated meat wrapped in spices and banana leaves, commonly suckling pig.
- 🌮 Chilaquiles : the ultimate breakfast nutrient made with fried tortilla strips simmered in a greenish or cherry-red salsa and usually topped with eggs, cheese, beans, meat or all of the in a higher place.
- 🌮 Enchiladas : tortillas filled wth meat, cheese, beans, vegetable or seafood and covered in a chili sauce.
- 🌮 Gorditas : like to Venezeluan arepas, this is a type of pastry made with masa, stuffed with cheese, meat, or other fillings and served usually fried. Information technology's not a coincidence they loosely translate as "little fatty ones" though…
- 🌮 Sopa de lima : a lime-infused craven soup with pieces of fried tortillas.
- 🌮 Tacos al pastor : United mexican states City's favorite tacos, these are meat tacos sliced off a spit and served with coriander and pineapple.
- 🌮 Quesadillas : tortilla filled primarily with cheese, meats, vegetables and/or beans and so cooked on a griddle.
8Leave your drone at dwelling house
If you have a drone and are annihilation similar me, you dream of taking some aerial shots of the heart-catchy Tulum beaches, cenotes or aboriginal ruins in the forest.
First of all, flying over archaeological sites similar Uxmal or Chichen Itza is strictly forbidden.
And it gets worse. A recent law explicitly says that 1) you have to exist a Mexican citizen to fly a drone in Mexico ii) it has to be registered. Legally, they're able to confiscate your drone when you enter or exit the country.
Whether they enforce this or non, is questionable, only I didn't want to risk it.
9Know the Mexican bathrooms
OK, so let's talk bathrooms.
The first affair to know is that the door with an "Yard" IS FOR WOMEN. Chiliad is for mujeres! Fifty-fifty afterwards living in Barcelona for years, I may or may not entered the women bathroom by mistake more than one time.
After you accept done your concern, you lot'll probable find a handbasket side by side to the toilet. This means the place is non continued to the public sewage so flushing your toilet paper can cause clogs. Deposit your used toilet paper in the basket.
10Plan for the all-time beach weather
If you lot're planning to spend some time at the pristine Mexican beaches, there are ii main things to consider.
Firstly, watch out for the hurricane season. Between June and November, hurricanes and tropical storms can touch the weather on the Caribbean coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, the Gulf Coast, and fifty-fifty the Pacific coast.
If yous decide on taking a holiday during hurricane flavor – great travel deals to exist made, every bit crowds are fewer – consider purchasing a travel insurance policy. Be fast. Usually, as before long as a storm is named, providers consider information technology a "foreseeable result" and volition not embrace in some (or all the) situations.
The other thing to consider are seaweed (aka sargassum or sargasso). No 1 wants to arrive at a soft white sand beach and discover out it'south entirely covered in a brown-ish stinky seaweed. I learned almost this the hard way!
ℹ Seaweed weather condition
Sargassum season usually runs from April to Baronial, just in contempo years in that location have been reports of "waves" of seaweed arriving off-flavour. I visited in March and many beaches in Tulum were covered in seaweed! The scale of the sargasso is so large that most hotels and even the government don't have the means to clean the beaches on a daily basis.
The Sargasso Monitoring Network of Cancún publishes daily reports of the situation on the beaches of the Caribbean declension, based on satellite and drone images, and even photographs of citizens.
If you desire to keep your beach time sargasso-free, stay in a place which has staff constantly monitoring and managing the situation in front of the hotel. This is commonly the case with high-end hotels and resorts.
11Get around past ADO jitney
Traveling independently through United mexican states is easier than you lot recollect. While internal flights are affordable, they're not sustainable and y'all can use the trip to meet a bit more of the countryside.
ADO Buses are surprisingly modern and comfy and in that location's plenty of routes every day connecting all major and modest towns throughout the land.
Oh, they're ridiculously cheap too. My trip from Valladolid to Tulum costed 110 pesos (less than $half dozen USD at the time). You can purchase tickets online (merely some foreign credit cards accepted) or at the nearest final de autobuses (bus terminal).
12Give a adventure to Mexico City.
United mexican states Urban center is the elephant in the room when information technology comes to United mexican states. People are so formatted to wing directly to Cancún or Acapulco that they overlook this massive, vibrant, culturally interesting city that offers a ton of things to do and see.
Adding it to your trip to Mexico volition go far much more diverse and truly experience like a consummate overview of this beautiful country. I suggest at to the lowest degree three full days.
Top hotels in Mexico City
I've fabricated the hard work for you.
This is a pre-filtered list of hotels in the safest areas to stay in Mexico Urban center.
13Go for the street food
Not trying the street food is missing out on a huge cultural office of any country.
In that department, Mexico is a respectable competitor to Vietnam, where I tasted the all-time street food ever.
Pay attending to how they launder the utensils, if the meat is well cooked and if the nutrient has been sitting in the dominicus for too long. If you're unsure, start with small snacks before moving to full meals.
The best tip though is to head for the stalls where locals queue upwardly the most. Or just enquire a local for recommendations!
14Be conscientious when renting a car
Frankly, I rarely trust car rental companies, because they're total of scams and tricks to make you lot pay more.
In Mexico, it's common to see car rental companies advertising rentals equally cheap as $one a 24-hour interval. I myself believed them for a cursory moment when looking to hire a car in Mérida. But later on emailing the company in accelerate – that yous should definitely do too! – I was then quoted the final price: roughly $200!
When reading information technology up online, it's mutual for agents to force you to take crazy expensive insurance when y'all pick upwardly the car. United mexican states requires drivers to prove they accept insurance if there is a serious blow.
Common sense applies here. If a bargain is likewise good to be true, information technology's probably because it's not.
15Explore the ancient ruins
If at that place'due south a country that volition delight any history buffs, it's Mexico. Before the conquistadores arrive at the country in the 16th century – a devastating nevertheless fascinating tale by itself – the country was Mayan and Aztec territory.
This incredible rich history still shows through its civilization and food, which is specially evident in the Yucatán region. Throughout the country, there are various imponent archaeological sites and ruins worth to visit. The most popular by far is Chichen Itza, just many say it's overrated, overpriced, and overcrowded compared to other options.
🗿 Best archaeological sites in Mexico
- Chichen Itza close to Valladolid
- Cholula Pyramid close to Puebla
- Coba close to Tulum
- Ek Balam close to Valladolid
- Templo Mayor in Mexico Metropolis
- Teotihuacán close to Mexico Urban center
- Tulum Ruins in Tulum
- Uxmal close to Mérida
sixteenEffort to avert tours
If you book a trip to Cancun or Playa del Carmen and hope to see the rest of the land booking guided tours, yous're ready to see nil but other tourists the entire time. Where is the fun in that?
Quite bluntly, yous're much better off going off the browbeaten path. Explore the local, cute, authentic Mexico. Give yourself a risk to immerse in the local civilization, with no deadlines or time restrictions. Your travel experience will profoundly increase.
Personally, I don't book tours unless it's mandatory or it's a cooking class. In Mexico, I used a 100% independent itinerary.
17Larn basic Spanish
Mexico are used to accept English-speaking tourists, but especially in smaller towns, it's always good to master some Spanish words and expressions.
It will both help connect with locals – only a small percent of them speak fluent English – but you're guaranteed to become a smile in return.
Basic Castilian words and expressions for travelers 🗣
- 🗣 Hello – Hola
- 🗣 Cheers – Gracias/Muchas gracias
- 🗣 Excuse me/Sorry – Perdón
- 🗣 What'south your proper name? – Como se llama usted?
- 🗣 My proper noun is… – Mi nombre es…
xviiiConnect with locals.
Honestly, the landscapes are beautiful, the history is fascinating, the food is delicious, simply the Mexican people are a whole another level.
No matter what magnates with an orange confront and crappy hair tell you, Mexicans are lively, friendly happy, with a abiding smile on their faces that is contagious. Don't be agape to inquire questions, make some joyful comments, and bring together the party whenever at that place's one. They'll win yous over. A bit of Spanish can be helpful though.
19Avert the tap water
It'due south more often than not a good idea to avoid tap water in Mexico. This obviously includes ice cubes in drinks and juices. If anything, in restaurants inquire for agua del filtro.
Bring a canteen of water and reuse it when you find a agua filtrada (filtered water) or just bring a water purifier that filters the waer form the tap. Win for you, win for the environment.
xxStay connected with a Telcel SIM card
More than and more, I feel getting admission to Cyberspace abroad is of import. Not to check your like count on Instagram or Facetime your friends, merely to know where you are and research what's around yous.
While WiFi is available in malls, restaurants, and hotels, it's a skillful idea to go a SIM card.
If you have a phone with eSIM adequacy – eastward.thou. the new iPhones – you can buy a virtual SIM card from GigSky (employ BRUN138 lawmaking for $5 credit!) and go immediately continued.
Otherwise, just head to a local OXXO store and ask for a concrete TelCel SIM menu. You tin can also become them in official Telcel stores. To salve some money, yous tin can utilise but 1 card and share the internet through a mobile WiFi router.
HUAWEI E5577s-321 Mobile WiFi Router
Put whatsoever SIM card in the globe within and information technology volition share the data across all your devices via WiFi (upward to 10!). The battery lasts 12 hours of working. Tin can't recommend it plenty!
Do you take more United mexican states travel tips? What other things we should know?
Let me know about your feel.
Source: https://www.geekyexplorer.com/mexico-travel-tips/